In a statement Tuesday, February 22 the Voice of America says the attack redirected traffic from numerous websites – including the international broadcaster’s main site: voanews.com. Instead of seeing VOA’s website, visitors saw a page with an anti-U.S. message addressing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and an Iranian flag along with an AK-47 assault weapon.
Large bolder letters read: “We have proven that we can.”
Cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr says the Iranian Cyber Army should be taken seriously. “There are a few hacker crews operating out of Iran that do have allegiances or ties with the Iranian government. The Iranian Cyber Army is one of them. They have a good skills set. These are not script kiddies [inexperienced hackers],” he said.
In a statement Tuesday, February 22 the Voice of America says the attack redirected traffic from numerous websites – including the international broadcaster’s main site: voanews.com. Instead of seeing VOA’s website, visitors saw a page with an anti-U.S. message addressing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and an Iranian flag along with an AK-47 assault weapon.
Large bolder letters read: “We have proven that we can.”
Cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr says the Iranian Cyber Army should be taken seriously. “There are a few hacker crews operating out of Iran that do have allegiances or ties with the Iranian government. The Iranian Cyber Army is one of them. They have a good skills set. These are not script kiddies [inexperienced hackers],” he said.
The Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Iranian government, praised the attack and said it was made in retaliation for what it called “false reports” about Iran. It is unclear how the attack against the Voice of America was carried out. Industry experts note that the hackers who are behind the disruption most likely chose Monday to launch the attack because it was a U.S. holiday and most federal employees were not at work. In late 2009, the Iranian Cyber Army claimed responsibility for an attack on Twitter, which was used widely by Iranian government opponents in post-election protests that year. Last year, the Iranian Cyber Army launched an attack on the Chinese search engine Baidu.
The Voice of America says no data have been lost or compromised and that most of the sites affected are returning to normal.
Source: Media.ge